1

The Newspaper of #

the Essex Police

Essex policemen raise over &13,000 to help children in need.

EXPOL 853 EXPOL 853 was the eventual and fancy name given to an original idea by Frank Ruggles, Dave Grimshaw and Mike Benning for a huge charity event involving Essex policemen. The idea was for a non stop run from John O'Groats to Lands End.

From its conception it was intended that a child or children should be the beneficiaries. The outcome involved both these, with the suggestion by Geoff Lee of Ongar that little Matthew Kayne a local cerebral palsey victim, should be provided with a walking brace and that BBC Children in Need Fund should receive the remainder.

853 was the number of miles for the journey, at least accord- ing to the route supplied by the AA computer, and 20 was the number of runners needed to do it. One reserve runner, a hack up team of 10 and four vehicles completed the team that made the journey. There is neither time nor space to detail the mammoth admin task taken on by the gang of three 'originals', but it took six months to arrange accommodation, transport, fuel, food, collection permits, rail tick- ets, cooking equipment - the list goes on for ever. All those tasks had to be completed preferably with no expense being incurred. As the momentum grew the rest of us were dragged into organis- ing this and that.

The journey north on May 31 was for 21 of us by courtesy of BR and for the rest in the vehicles; a transit, a camper, a Sierra and the force coach. The culmination of all that was that during Saturday evening we all met in Wick having bumped into each other at Inverness. The enormity of the task was driven home by the cold uninviting Caithness Hills and the thick mist and drizzle which dominated the

last 100 miles north. Running the other way seemed daunting. All these thoughts were dissolved by the warmth of the welcome by Sergeant George Harper and his merry men at Wick, a hotel dinner and a room at the top of the station to sleep.

I like the others decided that a diary of thoughts and actions for the week was necessary to stop the passage of time altering or ohscuring what happened. The journey south is described using excerpts from my diary which I tried to keep up as events took place.

Sunday June 1 Hotel breakfast - good to

have a solid start, then all hands sorting stores and equipment before the ten mile trip to John O'Groats. First problem. The cannister of stew supplied bythe army for Sunday night has putri- fied which vindicates complaints about the smell on the coach, thrown away - even the seagulls refuse it.

1000: John O'Groats: No won- der everyone runs, walks, hops and cycles away from here, its a bit desolate and bare but fascinating with the nearest Orkney Isles in view. A hardy few take a swim which can't have . . aone a lot.

1100: Weather is awful so having done the photos and presentations we got underway a few minutes early. Mass start but quickly left to Ray Powell and Mike Benning who are the first official runners.

1230: Hit problem number two - hot tea is necessary but the gas regulator in the camper is uls. Again the local generosity saves the day - a local shopkeeper came out on a Sunday and donated a new one to smooth talking Mick Spalding. Ken Fos-

ter runs through the first town, Wick, he is going like a train and sweating like only Ken does.

Mid afternoon: Weather cleared now and we are all lapping up the clear air. Phil Carter the cook loaned to us by 45 Field Reg Royal Artillary has joined in a run and is settling in with us strangers. Buster Foot- man the Southend United physio who is along for obvious reasons is impressed by the fitness of the runners and sees fatigue as the major problem.

Late afternoon: Descended upon the tiny police station at Helmsdale and set up the field kitchen. All hands helping with an enormous stew.

2000: 'A' Squad leave on the coach for a night's sleep at Loch Ness. (The plan demanded that half the team slept each night so that everybody slept every other nioht) . . . -. . - , .

Monday June 2 0745: Inverness. First major

re-think. Two of the night run- ners meet us to say that they are hours ahead of schedule. Col- lected £20 in Inverness and Ralph Young tells of some English people who stopped and donated a £20 note during the night.

0915: Aviemore. the ski centre, Andy Down going at his usual speed despite being up all night. We hung on behind to collect - and did quite well with donations of bread, milk and petrol. Generous these Scots.

1030: Now What! We've all lost each other and the mobile 'phones don't work this far up, so we travel ahead and wait on the A9 with Geoff Lee asleep on the grass verge. It will help him forget his blister.

1200: Drumochter summit. ,Glorious day, warm sun but snow on the neaks. The roarh has . . - - -. . --

CHIEF CONSTABLE I stopped and there are sand- wiches for lunch plus cold dip in the mountain stream. I 1445: Pass of Killiekrankie quarter di5tance already (215 miles since mid-dav Sundav).

HER MAJESTY Queen Elizabeth 11 has appointed 'I'he Chief Constable, Mr Robert Bunyard Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1986 Birthday Honours List.

Mr Bunyard told The Law "I am greatly honoured to receive this award which 1 feel reflects the reputation and achievements of the Essex Police rather than me as an individual. I have been Chief Constable of Essex for 8 years, during this time all officers have shown determination and commitment to overcome all obstacles put in their way in order to provide an excellent service to the people of Essex and I feel that this award reflects the quality of that service which members of the Essex Police have provided.

Mr Bunyard was previously honoured in 1980 when he received the Queen's Police medal.

1700: Chris ~ a f g e t s hisdtreat- ment on an office desk at Pit- lochry Police Station - Buster using his 'infrasound' kit and some strapping.

1900: Perth already - the other half (B squad) go off to sleep at the Scottish Police Col- lege and it's out turn for an all night stint.

2100: 'Cross checked' the stores from the coach and set off in the pouring rain to catch up with Allan Barley and Paul Watson who have gone the wrong way out of Perth - not their fault, a few signs would have been handy. Local Sergeant helped us out but he is more concerned that the coach has not turned up at the college. (It had run out of fuel!).

Evening meal of tinned mince and onions, beans and yoghurt (in retrospect that menu sounds dangerous).

Tuesday June 3 Midnight: Nearly at the Forth

Road Bridge, its very wet and cold.

0100: Cross the Forth Bridge but it might as well have been the Chelmer Bridge for all I saw in the dark and wet.

0200: Edinburgh City Centre. Cruelly left Dave Salmon run- ning on his own while we went into city centre nick for a hot

By Mick Hicks

Very generous in the city, taxi drivers, late night revellers etc.

0330: Out of the city and getting light - past Bilston Glen Colliery - infamous during the NUM dispute. Buster Footman suggests plenty of hot tea on this cold wet morning. Chris, lan and Mick the drivers are doing well driving and tea making.

1000: Out in the country, Mike Benning and I make our 'phone calls to Essex Radio and our Press Office (daily duty!!).

1130: Up to the summit of Devils Beef Tub. Spectacular, although I doubt if Buster and Mike Benning thought so, they ran up it. Steve Woods and Mervyn Fairweather picked up blisters running down it.

Early pm: Moffat - lovely town, clean, tidy with gentle pleasant people. Borders TV arrived to film for their evening news. Steve Woods feeling it a bit and was not improved by Buster's 'operation' on his hlis- ters carried out on top of a concrete waste bin on the A74.

Late pm: Running on the A74 is dangerous, rather like going jogging on the A13. Ken Foster didn't like it one bit.

Into Carlisle - approaching halfway already. Another major problem. A simple mistake in communication leads to harsh words. If the phones had work- ed it wouldn't have happened. We all lost each other and after several circular tours of Carlisle all was patched up, and 'A' squad off to bed at Lancs Train- ing Centre, Preston. 'B' squad had collected £900 in Edinburgh before meeting us. They took their food for the night and we ate in MacDonalds in Preston - on the house.

Wednesday June 4 0900: All ready for the off.

Kate Snell from BBC Radio is with us for our collection in Preston - on street interviews etc.

1200: E500 in Preston. Chris Woodward banked about &1600.

while relieving himself. Came out quicker than he went in.

2100: Pleasant, quiet evening through Shropsh i r e ca t t le country, spoiled by Mike Ben- ning falling over and cutting himself. John Seavers took him to Leominster Hospital. Not bothering with much cooked food now just toast and cold stuff.

Thursday June 5 Night: Through to Wye Valley,

so obviously beautiful but again lost in night - no moon this week. Just light enough to see the Severn Bridge as we cross it.

1000: Burnham on Sea -duty 'phone calls to the usual places. I did it Mike Benning sound asleep. (Diary entries noticeablv short'er Late am: now): Taunton already -

we should be sleeping here tonight but we are so far ahead of time that won't happen.

Met 'B' squad after their night's sleep at Edgbastone, they look bright which is more than we do. The runners have been doing short sessions to try and save energy. Sent some fresh runners on their way and discus-

Friday June 6

0500: This it it, everyone up early, the night runners are near now, so its all into running kit for the big finish.

0700: On the coach, passed the last runner Keith Fitzjohn a few miles out, he resembles a corpse moving at 7% miles an hour - the pace for the whole run.

0740: Into Lands End, loads of music from the amplifiers that have brought us in so much money. John Seavers selects 'Land of Hope and Glory' and its all smiles and handshakes at the end. (Ray Powell is still asking why in nearly five days the cook only did him one meal! - a question he kept asking never to get an answer).

Epilogue The end of the event was

sudden with the usual emotions of elation, contentment and then that flat fee1,ing that is innevit- able. A success no doubt about that despite diff~cnlties at times, but £3,700 in the Bank from collections alone is marvellous and everyone is thinner but well.

Warm thanks to all our sup- pliers and sponsors for their

Tired but happy, the runners and other team members at their journey's end. 1230: Radio 'phone now work-

ing and we head for Shrewsbury to meet the runners. (Carlisle to Shrewsbury overnight - not bad).

1530: Frank on the 'phone obviously tired - thinks we ought to make more major changes. (The diar) records this point as a difficult time - character clashes, fatigue etc. which it's difficult to remember now).

Despite the harsh words we all laughed ourselves silly at John Andrew's expense. He sat on an electric fence during the night

sed what was going to happen. Adjourned to Tiverton Police Station. Lots of 'phone calls and discussion. Conclusion miss out Taunton stop. head for Penz- ance. while the night runners catch up.

Earl? ebening Thursday: Left 'B' squad to negotiate Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor while we take a coach ride to Penzance via a take away meal in Plymouth. The runners in this half of the team realise for them the hard work is over.

2300: Penzance Police Station. Off to sleep in the club room.

contributions, not to ushut to the beneficiaries for whom either directly or indirectly each dona- tion or contribution was made. Thanks to the generosity and humour of those we met en route and to our fine guests Phil and Buster who easily fitted into the family.

I I I I I I I I~I_!I b2tot-s lIlIJlUUlIllIlIl Note

At the time of going to press over £13,000 had been raised and: the Funds Treasurer Tony Bragg told The Law that money was still f7owrng in dally.

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I 2 THE LAW, JULY, 1986

Dear Sir, , Following last year's

success of the Veterans' Cricket X1 the fixture is now to become an annual event for which Roger Parker, our scorer, has very kindly offercd to donate a trophy. '

This year's match will bc. a t Headqua r t e r s , Chelmsford, commencing at 2.30pm Friday, July 4. As you will no doubt appreciate this date is the P e n s i o n e r s ' G a r d e n Party. The cricket match will give some back- ground entertainment for our retired colleagues.

Remember last year "The Team" won quite convincingly with some notable performances from the likes of John Rhymes, Alf Henry and CO.

It is difficult to know who will be available to ~ l a v but I hove that

Fred Nicholls, Roger Culham, John Rhymes, Barry T a r b u n , Nigel Grainger, Alf Henry, Mike Benning , John Johnson, John Croot, E r ro l G r e e n e , Brian Mead, Rod Ellis, John Stonehouse and Dave Wilkinson.

May I through the columns of The Law extend an invitation to all spectators to this "Fun" event. 1 can promise some good entertainment and first-class cricket.

Yours faithfully, J . Johnson

Gratitude Dear Sir,

My family and I would like to express our grati- tude for the many mes- sages of sympathy and floral tributes on the tragic death of my dear husband Taff Jones.

We were overwhelmed ' 1 4

eleven will be ivailable by the tributes and sup- from the fourteen names. port at the Thanksgiving

and Crematorium ser- vices.

We would especially like to thank the Chief Constable, Mr Bunyard, Chief Superintendent G. Harris, and Taff's CID office and all uniformed colleagues at Chelmsford Town. Also all DCIs and Divisional offices, No 5 Regional Crime Squad and Division Comman- ders and colleagues in all departments.

The tributes paid to Taff by his colleagues made us feel very proud indeed.

We would also like to thank everyone for their contributions to Taff's Memorial Fund. It is a comfort to know that much good can come out of such sadness in the form of medical equip- ment for the Children's Ward, Broomfield Hos- pital.

From the moment of Taff's accident we have never felt alone, we have

Royal Wedding B.B.Q.

FOLLOW THE festivities of the day with a Carrib- bean-style barbecue at the Force Training School q u a d r a n g l e 8-12pm, Wednesday, 23rd July. The Austin Baptist Coral Reef Steel Band has been engaged for the event.

The cost of tickets include the provision of a barbecued meal are only £4 .75 . They can be obtained from H 0 exten-

BIGGLES RECENTLY took to the air in the shape of Inspector Brian Williams of Chelmsford Traffic. The facility was made available by courtesy of the Essex Radio Jambuster on the occasion of the Annual Essex Show at Great Leighs and proved to be a novel way of supervising the traffic problems.

A RECENT advertisme3 for a clerk/typist in the Comvlaints. Discivline'

customer. Rumour has it that the

Chief Superindendent, Traffic and Superinten- dent Operations recently tested an amphibious vehicle on the River Crouch. On entering the, water someone forgot to close the sun roof and Chief Superintendent ,

Traffic was not impressed with his impromptu s h o w e r . H o w e v e r , Superintendent Opera- tions saw the funny side of it, that is until such time as he realised that he had left the side window open and got a lapful of Crouch water as well. He who laughs last. . .

and 'inspection ~ G a r t - ment at Force Headqua- ters stated that "Applicats must be competent typ- ists."

Traffic vehicles hurried to an incident on the M25 recently when a "young woman" was seen to be thrown from a vehicle. Searching the arca the crew found a very large rubber doll a ~ ~ a r e n t l v discarded by a di:satisfieh

been completely en- veloped in the care and support of Es,,ex Police land for this, we thank you.

Yours sincerely, Maureen Jones

Chelmsford sincere thanks

Dear Sir, Please allow me to ex-

tend to all my friends, colleagues and Chief Officers at Headquarters my most sincere thanks for their kindness and help following the death of my wife and mother-in- law.

Yours sincerely, David Burrell

Information Room

Retired? Dear Sir,

I retired from the Force some years ago and took up employment with Holdsure Motor Policies, The Broadway, Wickford. I have been extremely happy working for this

A RECENT newcomer to the Press and Public Rela- tions Department is PC Neville Leach replacing Jon Hill who has been promoted and posted to Harlow.

Neville has been in the Force for 26 years and previously worked in the Welfare Department. Prior to that he served at Chelmsford, Roxwell, Support Unit and Maldon.

company and they have been very good to me.

The Company are now looking to increase their personnel in the Motor C l a i m s E n g i n e e r i n g Section and would be pleased to receive applica- tions from retired or retir- ing police officers who have a knowledge of motor vehicles.

If any such person re- quires further information I can be contacted on Wickford 5522.

Yours faithfully, John T. Johnson

Memories Dear Sir,

May I have the oppor- t un i ty t h rough your columns of expressing my sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues i n the Essex Police for all the good wishes received to mark my recent retire- ment . My retirement evening at Basildon Police Station Bar was a night I shall never forget. It was

lar the Traffic Division with whom 1 spent so much of my service. The presents I received will be a constant reminder of my times with the Essex Police.

Yours sincerely, Fred Firkins

Isle of Wight

Steady progress Dear Sir,

I would like to thank all the friends and colleagues who have sent cards and letters containing good wishes to my husband Michael Simister, PC 2143, who is in the L o n d o n H o s p i t a l , Whitechapel, following a kidney transplant opera- tion on Saturday, May 17.

The messages have been coming so thick and fast it will be impossible to acknowledge them indi- vidyally.

At the time of writing Michael is making steady progress and hopes to be back among you all before

wonderful 'old' friends to there. see so I many will too long.

Pat Simister have lasting memories of Thundersley the Force and in particu- Essex

Lord Lieutenant presents Medals

AN A'WARD ceremony took place at Police Head- quarters on the 19th June when Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Essex Admiral Sir Andrew Lewis. KCB, JP, presented Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medals to 55 Essex officers.

The ceremony was one of the largest ever to have taken place in Essex with officers of all ranks and every division being represented.

Following the presentations a buffet was served for the officers and their guests and they were able to mingle with Sir Andrew, Mr Bunyard, the Chief Constable and other senior officers.

The afternoon was an unqualified success and due recognition should be afforded to Mrs Jennifer Luscombe and her staff for the splendid arrangements.

Proof photographs of the presentation are available for viewing at HQ Press Office where orders may be placed.

p---

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WHERE A R E YOU GOING TO SPEND

THE LAW, JULY, 1986 3

The Chief Constable Inspecting The Parade

SPECIAL CONSTABULARY MUSTER PARADE

T H E SPECIAL Con- Mr Robert Bunyard and service. stabulary Muster Parade following his inspection In addition t o the took place at the Force he presented Long Ser- presentation of medalsMr Training School recently vice awards to a number Bunyard also presented and this year it was of officers who had com- Certificates to 7 officers accompanied by glorious pleted in excess of 9 years about to retire having

Grays Careers

Convention

sunny weather. This broke the trend set over the five preceeding years when, to say the least, the weather h a d been s o m e w h a t unkind.

The weather certainly drew the crowds and an estimated 800 people turned out on the day to mark the occasion. Not only were they treated to a fine parade but also an afternoon of entertain- ment. The "Inspecting Officer" was the Chief Constable

served many years ot faithful service. Between them they had given no less than 241 years of service to the Special Constabulary. Recipients of these certificates were as follows - Special Con- stables Eden, Harlow, 33 years, Swan, Harlow, 33 years; Sub Divisional offi- cers Trimnell, Harlow, 33 years, Kinley, Harlow, 31 years, Matthews, Harlow, 26 years, Croxhall, Col- chester, 23 years; Woman Special Constable Trim-

S.D.O. Harry Matthews receiving his Certificate from The Chief Constable.

nell, Harlow, 22 years. The formal presenta-

tions completed a buffet luncheon was provided for the officers, their families and guests.

The afternoon com- menced with a display by the Dog Section and con- tinued with a variety of static displays manned by the Crime Prevention De- partment, Traffic Depart- ment, Mounted Section and Diving Unit. The Driving School and In- formation Room also en- tertained large numbers of visitors. and to make

Sec t ion Off icer Phi l the day complete the Munns receives his Long F c B a n d p 1 a y d

Service medal. throughout.

A CAREERS convention with a difference was re- cently held within the Grays Division. Mindful of trying to improve com- munity relations Inspec- tors Mike Williams and Bert Wallace arranged the convention in a Sikh Tem- ple at Maidstone Road, Grays.

Con tac t was made though a local community l eade r , Mr Gulsham Raghinder Singh and arrangements were made for the convention to take place in the temple during the afternoon of Sunday, June 8.

In order to make the event as interesting as possible Headquarters Crime Prevention and Force Training School Departments were con- tacted and they agreed to provide static displays.

On the day of the event Mike was ably assisted by the local Neighbourhood Beat Officer, Pc Odell and his Sergeant Steve Nuttall. Sergeant Howard Laverick from the HQ Crime Prevention and Sergeant Dave Pery from the Force Training School were also in attendance.

Mike was unsure of how the convention would be received and was therefore ~leasantlv sur-

THE ABOVE photograph has been re- and ex pc Daws, and would like to Charlie has been a member of the Special Constabulary ceived from ex police constable 343 hear from any of the others. for over 33 years, all of which have been served in or (;eorge Steam who is currently living in correspondence can be forwarded on, around Saffron Walden. the Hornchurch area. George remembers either through The Law or via N A K ~ O In recognigon of his service, the Mayor of Saffron some of the faces in the picture. ex Pc secretary Doug Rampling. Walden, Mr Stephen Neville, presented him with an Lamb, ex Pc Durrant, ex Pc May, ex Pc engraved watch.

c o i s t a b u l a r y , sp;cial Constabulary or cadets, but also a better under- standing between the Sikh community and the police that served them.

4 THE LAW, JULY, 1986

1 Essex Police Band visit to France 1 AS MANY readers will ly disillusioned; they called him, "Brian, my heat, stopping only occa- night we were entertained among people who re- already know, the Essex didn't, only a few, but Bobbeee." sionally for a rest and a by the people of L'Aiguil- membered and cared. He Police Rand has ir~st re- "Twn beers nleasp" and a Packed in the four days glass of wine; a L'Aiguil- Ion in the salle de fete. became our guest hero for - - - - - - - - - - - - a--- - - turned from a six-day visit to L'Aiguillon Sur Mer, France. The visit was made in conjunction with the Burnham on Crouch Town Twinning Commit- tee, and a coach of their members accompanied the new Force coach to L' Aiguillon.

The Committee acted as our guides on the way, taking us through many small French towns and villages we might never have seen. After the long and tiring journey we arrived in L'Aiguillon to be met by their Twinning Committee and our first taste of local wine. Then it was on to the hotels; the Band was split into three for accomodation pur- poses, simply because such a small town could n o t c o p e w i t h o u r numbers.

Many of us were sur- prised at what a small town L'Aiguillon is, but although small, the com- munity spirit was great, as

. m . . . . .

- - - - I------ ---- - smile is the same in every the band was in ~ ' ~ i g u i l - ibn-style buffet~disco- - language. Fortunately we Ion were a wreath-laying dancing led by Marie, a took with us Brian Higgle- service at the local cemet- fun-loving local character ton from Chelmsford CSB ery for six British war who admitted to being in

The Band playing at the St Benoist War Memorial, before marching through the town.

There is a moving story attached to this particular evening which cannot be left untold and came about by pure chance.

Mr and Mrs Balcomb from Ormskirk happened to be British holiday- makers touring this area of France and passing th rough L'Aiguillon. They saw the salle de fete decorated with French and British flags and lots of people so they decided to stop. Mr Balcomb had been an airgunner during the Second World War and was in the sister squadron to that of the airmen shot down and buried in L'Aiguillon cemetery. Mr Balcomb was himself shot down in the area and hidden by the local resistance. Sadly the remainder of his crew were captured and ex- ecuted but his escape was assisted by the local people. Naturally Mr Bal- comb has deep feelings of gratitude for the local

we were *lnd Out at the who acted as our interpre- dead, a rehearsal and her seventies; sight-seeing ieople, hence his visit to many activities that took ter and bravely stood in Grand Concert with the trips to Les Sables D'olon- the area. He had already place in the de fete front of the band as a local band L7Harmonie ne and La Rochelle; an visited ~ ' ~ i ~ ~ i l l ~ ~ cemet- Over the days. bilingual compere, or as Municipale; what seemed outdoor evening concert ery and seen the wreaths

Those in the band who Josette, a very prominent l ike a two h u n d r e d and more wine at St laid in our small service thought all Frenchmen member of the L'Ainguil- kilometre march around Benoist; and several large, and was the happiest man spoke English were quick- Ion Twinning Committee the town in insufferable lengthy meals. On the last in France that night to be

the evening and was treated to the band's re- ndering of the popular RAF tunes by way of a salute to him and his colleagues.

A few words of thanks must be said to those from the Essex Police Band Committee, the Burnham Twinning Committee and t h e i r L ' A i g u i l l o n c o u n t e r p a r t s w h o organised the trip and made it the success it was and also to the long- su f f e r ing d r i v e r s - there's nothing worse than being sober when everyone else is "merry"!

Now available , on cassette only

: A new' recording by Essex Police Band

"20 Years on the Beat"

Commemorates I the Band's

20th year 1 Contact Pc Kennedy,

Press Office, HQ Chelmsford

Saffron Walden "Twinned" SAFFRON WALDEN, that far flung outpost of the Essex Police in the North Western corner of the county, has at last caught up with all those other towns in the county. inspired by the idea of Town Twinning and part of this inspiration came from five police officers who either work andlor live in the area.

In 1985, the Saffron Walden Town Twinning Association was formed and the town chosen as its "partner" was Bad Wil- dungen, in Hesse, about 25 miles from Kassel in Western Germany.

This town was chosen due to its links going back to 1968 with the Saffron Walden County High School when many pupils began exchange visits.

After several fund rais- ing functions in 1985, the Association being self supporting, an advance party of members and their families went to Bad Wildungen on the occa- sion of their "Fest Der Begegnung", a local carnival, in September, taking with them a group of local Morrismen.

All were very well re- ceived and the usual high level of German hospital- ity extended on what was a v e r y e n j o y a b l e weekend.

A r r a n g e m e n t s w e r e then finalised for the for- mal Town Twinning Cere-

monies, the English one to take place during the first weekend in April, 1986 and the German one in August, 1986.

Seeking to find an in- volvement with our con- terpar ts in Bad Wil- dungen, an approach was made to their Chief of Police and in due course six German police officers f rom B a d Wildungen

considering we only had their names to work on to allocate our guests, every- thing worked out well with all of us "hosting" somebody of our own age group or interests.

Having briefly made a stop at each of our homes on the Friday night what next but an introduction t o an English Public House for our guests and

A presentation to the German guests at Saffron Walden Police Station by Ins Keith Delaney.

arrived in Saffron Wal- den, together with some 200 residents of their town for a weekend visit.

Five police officers either living or working in S a f f r o n W a l d e n S u b Division, John Kennet, Keith Delandy, Barry Wright, Don Gilroy and Ian O'Sullivan, volun- teerd to play host and

so to "The Swan" in the centre of Thaxted, a cen- tral meeting place where, init ially in t roduc t ions w e r e improved upon aided by several beers.

What followed was two days of socialising, official receptions and general re- velry which would have made even the most hectic of IPA trips pale into

insignificance. One family even managed to "mis- lay" their guests and those that know Saffron Walden will realise just how diffi- cult it is to lose two Germans in a town of that size. Fortunately they eventually turned up at 3 in the morning with smiles on their faces.

A l l t o o s o o n t h e weekend was almost over but not without a final visit t o yet a n o t h e r English public house, this time the Cross Keys in S a f f r o n W a l d e n a n d joined by the local Fire Brigade and the German Fire Brigade band a good time was had by all.

After presentation of suitable gifts to our Ger- man guests and promises of seeing them all again in August when the German part of the ceremony takes place, it was off home to bed. Another early start on the Monday morning saw us all in the L o r d B u t l e r ' L e i s u r e Centre Car Park, Saffron Walden to say a final farewell to our guests.

The local Fire Brigade planned a farewell hosing down ceremony as the coaches left, but unfortu- nately the fire engine went left and the coaches right so the opportunity was lost.

Very much an enjoy- able, but hectic weekend and all of us involved look forward to the return in August.

I Americans thank I Saffron Walden

AT A recent ceremony held at Carver Barracks, Debden, Chief Inspector Ken Rowe was presented with a silver salver by Colonel Donaldson of the American 4th Infantry Regiment.

The Regiment was one of two American Army Regiments who have recently spent a month at Carver Barracks as part of an exchange visit with members of the 1st Queens Dragoon Guards.

The presentation was made to thank members of the Saffron Walden Sub Division for their assistance and co-operation extended to the American troops during their stay in England, or as Colonel Donaldson put it "for not arresting any of them." Ken Rowe was quick to point out that the need for such action had never arisen!

The inscription on the salver reads: "Presented to the Constabulary of Saffron Walden for their excellent assistance and co-operation, from the 4th Battalion 40th Armoured Regiment and 4th Infantry Division (Mechanised)."

THE LAW, JULY, 1986 5 ,

Part REFLECTIONS OF AMERICA Two Charlie BY Clark

CHIEF INSPECTOR Charlie Clark recently completed a course at the FBI National Academy in America. In last month's issue of The Law he gave an account of the Course and the Academy itself. He concludes his story in this month's issue by giving an account of the more social aspects of his visit.

I found, somewhat to my surprise, that policing attitudes and problems are very similar the world over. Also, to a large extent, the ways of tackling day-to-day problems are very similar. By this I mean that although cultural, political and legalistic differences allow for significant variations, there are not that many varia-

The three revolver ranges, one rifle range, duelling range, surprise range and four 'skeet' fields.

tions within the confides of normality, that police forces can readily adopt, policing is policing, is policing.

However, moving away from the general day-to-day problems I found differences which were fascinating. A couple of examples are, firstly, the Los Angeles Police Department's "Battering Ram" which has a 30 foot long steel ram on the front of an armoured car. This is used for "entering premises" of mainly drug dealers who would be reluctant to readily open doors to police officers with warrants. The ram is not used on doors, however, but is used on a corner section of the ground floor of premises to ensure adequate means of entry for foot officers to rapidly enter and preserve evidence and arrest suspects who are likely to be armed.

SWAT

The second example I can give is the use of helicopters with SWAT trained officers equipped with high powered automatic weapons to bc used as necessary. The photograph in the last 'Law' showed SWAT trained officers absailing (repelling as the Americans called it) froin a hovering helicopter. Techniques such as these are far more aligned with the military than law enforecement bodies in England.

I could mention numerous other examples but I want to go on to talk about how I perceived the standing ot the American Cop in their society relative to the British police officer. One of the principal features was the high standard of living of the American Cop. 1 shared a room with a Lieutenant from San Francisco who earned in the region of f47,000 per annum. He owned four houses, ran a BMW, a Volvo and a "station wagon type" general purpose truck.

To show that this was not peculiar to my room mate, the photograph shows a house belonging to a Captain (equivalent rank to Chief Inspector) in the Illinois State Police. From what I saw this was not untypical of a great number of those officers on the course.

However, on the other hand, a single New York Lieutenant, although earning high wages, lived in very small one bedroomed flat on the east side of

Manhatten, the cost of buying or renting property in New York was extremely expensive.

Another feature of American life which seemed rather odd to me which only became apparent when I was invited home on various weekends by other police officers, was eating out at breakfast time. I was assured that this was not uncommon in America and my hosts on the respective occasions said that they tried to accomplish this every weekend to give their wives a break from preparing meals.

Even though I thought the gesture was fine, I found it hard to rationalise as it seemed quite common for Americans to eat out two or three times a week in any case.

I could relate my experiences about travelling America but I feel that 1 should not bore you with repetitive descriptions of different states and cities, but I want to briefly talk of my experience in New York.

24th Precinct

I spent three days in New York and although much of my time was spent with relatives I also got to two of the many Police Precincts. I was taken to New York by a Lieutenant who was on the FBI course and on the journey into the city he showed me some of the sights; George Washington Bridge, Times Square, Central Park, the site of John Lennon's murder and a number of other famous sights. We then turned into a fairly narrow side street which was full of parked police cars., There were police cars parked along both sides of the road, on pavements, in fact there seemed to be police cars cvcrwhere. The Lieutenant whom I was with carefully reversed his car onto the pavement next to a . police vehicle and left it parked, completely blocking the footpath. When I queried the parking 1 was told that it was common to New York.

Entering the 24th Precinct through its front public entrance was like walking into an American television set as one might see on Hill Street Blues or a similar American Cop story, except, the reality seemed much dirtier and scruffier than could ever be imagined.

Dirty

I commented on the dirty, scruffy appearance of the place and was told that it was one of the better Precincts. The Detectives Office on the second floor was little better; the Captain's Office was small, dark and again very scruffy. The furnishings were chipped and scratched, the walls looked as though they hadn't been painted for 20 years or more and the detectives I met were all dressed in sweat shirts and track suit bottoms, apparently they only dress in their work clothes when they have to go out on the streets.

with New York was overstated. The common held belief that Central Park is a dangerous place would be hard for me to ascribe to as I spent over a hour walking through there with an elderly relative. The biggest 'danger was the possibility of getting knocked down by one of the many, many joggers.

National Academy

Whilst discussing New York I feel I must mention an extremely interesting afternoon spent at the FBI National Academy when retired New York cops, Deputy Inspector Danny St John and Captain Frank Bolz came and gave a 4 hour talk on hostage rescue and' SWAT tactics.

What I found fascinating was the move towards tactics very much the same as those practiced in Essex. Danny St John said that for years New York Cops had got the reputation of "shooting first and then asking the questions" but that since the early 1970s that had all changed. The tactics were now to contain and negotiate; it heartened me greatly to hear that these were the preferred policing methods in arguably, one of

Charlie Clarke about a receive a bruise at the hands of a .357 Magnum.

the most violent cities in the world. I could also relate to many of the practical problems experienced especially those where internal battles had to be fought over the number of men needed and the range of equipment neded to give hostage negotiations and SWAT opertions the best chance of success..

The talk given by the two retired officers finally ended late that evening over a drink in the bar at the Academy where the two men recounted experiences from domestic hostage situations to the hi-jacking of a

Would this house qualify for maximum rent allowance in Essex?

However, despite what I have said so far about the 24th Precinct, the whole place had the air of an extremely busy police station. This impression was somewhat borne out by some figures for murders within the square mile covered by the precinct - 1984 - 38 murders; 1985 - 29 murders. 1986 had been a good year so far with only 8 murders.

Impression

Whilst in New York 1 was taken out in a police vehicle for a short while just to have a "cops-eye-view"; we did not get involved in any of the work however. I was driven through Harlem and although it was only a fleeting visit I could feel a certain hostility in the air; it was not the sort of area to go walking alone.

My overall impression of New York was that of any large cosmopolitan city, it was big, dirty, noisy and busy but it nevertheless had a fascination all of its own and I felt that the voilence and crime often associated

bus full of passengers that ended up at Kennedy Airport in July 1977.

So far I have not mentioned one of the, if not the fundamental difference between the American and English police, ie: the carrying for firearms. Without - exception, every police officer I spoke to wanted to know how the British Police carried out their day-to- day duties without being armed. The explanation I gave never really satisfied anybody but I could see their point of view as it was unusual for them to walk outside their'own house, whether on duty or not, without a firearm of some sort. Even in the summer months when their style of dress made it impossible to conceal a weapon, their wives or girlfriends would have to carry a gun in their handbag.

Firearms

American Police Officers, in most states, can own virtually whatever firearms they want. I stayed with a police Captain and he had an armoury of almost 50 weapons ranging from very small, concealable .22 revolvers though an assortment of semi-automatic pistols to a fully automatic Heckler and Koch. He maintained that they were just a hobby and that although he used a number of different weapons for work purposes, depending on the assignment he was 1" undertaking, he mostly used them for the pleasure of shooting on the surrounding open land near to his home. You can see a photograph of me shooting a .357 Magnum with a 3in barrel on some farm land owned by my host's uncle. I had not fired a Magnum with a 3in -. barrel before but the bruising on the base of my thumb caused by the recoil left me with a lingering memory. I can see why CIint Eastwood has the longer barreled version.

However, enough of my ramblings, I just want to conclude by saying what a marvellous opportunity I was given and that if anybody else should be so lucky they - should grasp it with both hands and make the most of it.

m. 6 THE LAW, JULY, 1986

Watch the interest

"NICE little runner" suid the cur dealer. "Only one owner, absolutely giving it uwuy, I don't know how I can ufford to survive with our low prices. " Sol4nd.s like a fumiliur tune, doesrz't it.? My heart goes out to the poor old car sule.~marz who's pitiful little profit tnurgirz hus to feed and clothe his frrrnily.

Still, I witnessed an interesting event lust month which ruther diluted m y compus- sion und guve me an idea for this month's urticle.

I was with a friend who was ufter u secondhand BM W , being offered at u cur sales showroom for £3,750. My friend had allowed himself f l15 per month for HP on the cur, and had been offered f 750 for his old M k 3. The sale.sman worked out the credit for the remaining f.3,000 and came up with £126 per month. "No , sorry," suid m y friend, "I'd only allowed for £1 l 5 u month, have you something a bit cheaper."

The salesman went into his office and made a quick phone call. He came out and said, "£115 a month is fine." When he wrote out the sale agreement, the purchase price wus still £3,750 less £ 750 deposit, but

the monthly puyments had mysteriorrs1.v gone down by f l l a month.

In m y role us a Money Matters ' '. ~nvestigutive reporter" I made some enquiries with cotztuct.~ in the crcdit inriustry. As u rc.sult I discovered thut the credit cornpuny puys ,sub.stur~tial cotnmi.s- siorzs to deulers who arrurzgc credit with them. Nothing wrong with thut, bu.sines.s is blisiness. It's worth beuring in mind, though, that if' you ure ufter u nice big urticle on HP, you cun often rzegotiute the terms so thut the dealer, as in m y friend's cuse, waives his comrni.ssion on the credit agreement just to get the sale.

Whilst I'm on the subject, I'll end with u perennial wurning to WATCH THOSE RATES. Ask for the A P R every time. Bank loans are about 20 per cent, Barclay and Access are ahout 26.8 per cent, l l per' cent mortgages are about 11.6 per cent, and Store credit cards are about 32.9 per cent. Provident Cheques are well in excess of l 0 0 per cent, but they are the only ones who actually call to collect the money. Our advice is, if you're borrowing your money, start at your bank and work upwards! If you're large ufter amounts, consider a re-mortgage.

' Protect your commutation I FORCE with the PMAS

OFFICERS APPROACHING retirement will be eagerly looking forward to picking up a substantial lump sum payment on commuting. Have you con- sidcred, however, that if you should die before your retirement date, the right to commute dies with you and your family will not have the benefit of that payment.

You can ensure that they would not lose out by effecting a PMAS Commutation Protection Policy. This is designed for the officer within ten years of retirement and it guarantees to pay a lump sum in the event of death during the policy term. For instance, an officer aged 50 next birthday can ensure a tax-free payment of f20,000 if he dies during the next five years, for a weekly deduction from pay of just f l .88.

For further information contact your local authorised officer or PMAS Head Office at Alexandra House, Queen Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire WSI3 60s (telephone Lichfield 5241 1 ).

FANCY DRESS Hire, the county's leading fancy d r e s s c o s t u m e h i r e specialists, reduced rates for police authority em- ployees, pensioners and families. Ex PS Coombes, 1597 London Road, Leigh on Sea or 0702 74436. E L M 0 SUPER 8 sound STlXO two track projec- t o r , s o u n d 2 3 0 S X L camera and 912D dual editor, vgc, £310 ovno, will sep. TW116 Raja, Westcliff or 0702 34333 1. TRAILER Sf't X 3ft with spare wheel and extension rods. Hardly ~ ~ s e d . E90. Mrs I. Bentley, IIarlow Station or Harlow 34202. HOLIDAY - W001*-

+ ACOMUE BAY, North Dcvon. Small, comfort- able, friendly guest house o r l a rge m o d fu l ly equipped caravan, sleeps 6, No VAT. Contact Clive Ferrie Ex PS 0271 870540. GAS FIRE, good cond,

' $10 ono. PC Kcnncdy, Press Officer HQ or Chelnisford 2639 10.

ENGLISH SPRINGER Spaniel puppy (dog) born April 1986, liverlwhite, from good working stock, f30. Insp Rowe, Basildon or Maldon 828501. LADIES WET SUIT, 2- piece, in cxc cond, fit size 10112, f 3 0 . M i k e Bcaridge, Press Office HX ext 3741516. CHEST FREEZER, 13 cu ft, f35; Brand new roof rack, never used, f 18. I'C J . Mertl, Information Room or 0277 2 10603. CORNISH HOLIDAY? Fully equipped mobile home, 6 berth, 2 doubles, showcrltoilet, main elec- tricity, sited at Portrc;~th. Pleasant site nr beach. D. Fl'urner EX I'C,' Id;~indon Traffic, tel 03752 6704. S I N G E R S E W I N G MACHlNE with zig zag stitching. Just serviced, vgc, f35. Mrs S . Mcrrison. I'el: Witham 5 19136. 'TENT TRIO Triniciacl, 6 berth, scp kitchen area, Ige living area, as new.

LOTTERY RESULT of the draw held on 2.6.86: 1st Prize - DC Kerry, Wickford, £1,500; 2nd price PC Brown, Chelmsford Traff~c, £700; 3rd prize - PC Onyons, Laindon Traffic, £300. Consolation prizes at £50 each: PS Anderson, HQ Traffic; PC Lawman, Southend; PC Lamiday, HQ; PC Miller, Silver End; DS B e d f o r d , Westcliff; DC Scott, HQ; PC Howell, Colchester; PS Kirvell, South Ockendon; PC Lever, Westcliff'; PC Manners, HQ.

PRIVATE MEDICAL RECENT NEGOTIATIONS on behalf of the group have secured B and D costings at two local hospitals. This means that subscribers who are on B and D premium rates will be able to receive treatment at both the Southend Wellesley and Brentwood Hartswood Hospitals with no lowering of standards of medical attention. Therefore, members who are living in those areas and who are contributing to B and C hospital rates should consider transferring to B and D and thereby make a savings in monthly premium rates. Transfers can be rnade by a notice in writing to the Group Secretary, Police t-leadquarters. Claims Forms and Flelp Desk.

Our insurance brokers still provide their Help Desk service and they are now responsible for issuing all claims forms. Dial Chelmsford 268281 for this service. NEW ENROLMENTS. There has been a recent distri- bution of PPP material to enable new members to enrol, any officer requiring further information about the scheme can contact the Group Secretary on H Q 495.

Late Federation Notes from Jim Rodgers

FOR the past several years, the bulk of the Force have been donat- ing, by way of a direct debit from their pay pack- et, the sum of 10 pence per month to the Royal Ulster constabulary Be- nevolent Fund.

This sum is a token contribution to the above Charity to assist that organlsatlon to cope wlth the welfare needs of the Ulster Force, which arise as a result of the con- tinuing hostilities.

For some time we have been under pressure to raise this contribution, and this culminated in the obvious demand made at the Force Open Meeting on Monday night.

T h e J o i n t B r a n c h Board have made an Executive decision to in- crease the monthly sum to 25 pence and the Payroll Division at County Hall will be advised to com-

mence the deductions at that rate with effect from the July Pay Packet.

Anyone who does not wish to participate at that level should write to me to that effect, but before you do so think what 25 pence actually purchases for you, and then consid- er the people who will b e n e f i t f r o m y o u r generosity.

Southend Police Ski Club

f 180. DC Bird, FTQ ex 550 tel 359 190. S P A C E M A K E R C A R A V A N p o r c h awning, will fit any size van, little used, f75; Calor gas bottle, £7. Rarry Diamond, Brentwood Station or 024533 556. H O L I D A Y B U N G A - LOW to let, 100 yds from Suffolk beach, sleeps max 7, available all year round, competitive rates,

-close to Norfolk Broads. PC Milbank IIQ IIR "A" or Chelmsford 460306. DINING ROOM table, smoked glass top, chrome legs, 4 wicker and chrome chairs to match, cxc concl, f65 ono. I'C Milbank, HQ IIR "A", or Chelmsford 4(>0306. D K A I > W E L L 18 SI>OOP, (;RP, outboarcl, trailer, cooker. 4 berth, nav light\. f 1,450 ono. I'S G o d i n g , C lac ton o r 427983. REAL FLAME gas fire, orniitc br;tss surround, f85. M:rIiogany and brass chiming pc!idulum Dutch repro wall clock f50. Insp Waller, Harlow Traffic or Harlow 3842 1 .

W I N D O W D O U B L E glazed aluminium unit 4ft x 4ft with opening fan- light, exc cond, f35. Insp H. A. Norman, Chelms- ford Station ext 204 or Chelmsford 5 1024. TOW BAR, Ford Cortina incl ball etc, £15. DC K. Gurney, Chelmsford or 466872 WIND SURFER, ideal for beginner or intermedi- ate 5.4m sail, vgc, com- plete, f 175. DC Gurncy. Chelmsford or 466872. LAIIIES BICYCLE, five gears, drop handlebars, carrier, lights, new tyres and cahlcs, as ncw cond E65 o n o . I'C Leake , Che lms fo rd o r 0621 817831. ESCOR'T XR3, A rcg, 1983, Caspian blue, fac- tory sunroof. radio cass- c t te , E4,500 o n o . PC Banks. Stanway 'I'raffic, or Colchester 415 18.

SINCLAI K SPECI'KLJM plus tape recorder, joy- stick and games, f90, will sep; ciouble divan becl, nearly new, good cond, £75. PC Roorni;in, Dogs (Brcntwood) Ext 41.

SOUTHEND POLICE Sports Club are organis- ing.a skiing trip to Sansi- cario, Italy, in March 1987. The deal includes good apartment-style half board accommodation, lessons, skis, boots and full insurance. The holi- day caters for novice and expert skiers alike. For further details contact Brian Taylor, the South- end Club Secretary on ext 318.

STARTING ON Thurs- day, 3 July, and every Thursday thereafter, an "Aerobics Class" and Weight Training tuition will be available at South- end Police Station, in the main hall.

Aerobics will be held at 7pm and Weight Training at Xpm.

Go along for either aerobics or weight train- ing or both, which will cost you f l per session.

The evenings will be witable for either men or women a n d will be supervised by Ricky, a qualified instructor from Lindisfarne Health Club.

All club members will be welcome, and remem- ber that includes hus- bands and wives.

Now is your chance to g e t i n t o s h a p e f o r summer.

Retirements PC C. G. Caffyn, Traffic1 Colchester retired June 15 after 23 years 59 days service. . DS K. N . Lingwood, Rayleigh CID, retired June 20 after 30 years service. PC T. A. Weavers, Traf- ficIHalstead, retired June 29 after 19 years 141 days service. DC M. J . Radford, South- end, retires July 12 after 24 years 311 days service. PS R. G. Mann, CSB Hadleigh, retires August 31 after 30 years 38 days service. Supt L. N. Brewer, Traf- fic, retires August 31 after 30 years nine days service.

Obituaries April 29, ex PS Frederick T. J. Hiscock, 62 years, who retired from the Force 1974. May 28, ex Pc Albert James Light, 72 years, who retired from the Force 1965. June IS, ex PS Louis Henry Martin, 71 years, who retired from the Force 1963.

K A W A S A K I KC100, "X" reg, only 4,750 miles, MoTItax till Sept, good cond, just serviced, f 200 ono. Topbox available. Cl1 Tedder, 110 ext 391 or 466202. HONDA C90 motorccy- cle, "X" reg, year MOT, top box incl, exc cond,

E225 ono. PS Brown, D r i v i n g S c h o o l o r Chelmsford 322208. FLOWERS for all occa- sions, weddings, birthdays ctc, fresh or silk, qualified florist, wife of PC. Disc given to officerslfamilies. PC Astbury, Hadleigh or 552804.

THIS is your FREE small-ad service. Please use this form as we regret that ads cannot be accepted over the phone or on plain paper. Send your ad to "Market Place", The Law, Police HQ, Chelmsford. Thank you. I - _ _ - _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ - - . - - _ I BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE - ONE WORD PER 1

BOX I

I Name and Rank Station I

I-- l i Home telephone Signed

THE LAW, JULY, 1986 7 ,

I HAVE no doubt that elsewhere in this paper, an item appears announcing the award in the Birthday Honours List of the CBE to the Chief Constable. I have already given him my personal congratulations, and a letter from the Joint Branch Board to the same end, but it would be remiss if no comment appeared in this column. After all is said and done, if the first half of this year has been devoted to my award, the next six months ought to be conccrned with his!

In all of our dealings with Mr Bunyard since his arrival from Leicester, we the Joint Branch Board have always found him to be understanding, compassionate and fairminded. We have perceived that he has put his other Forces behind him, and has concern only for the Essex Police, and that concern has lead to the high esteem in which the Force is now held. It is obvious therefore that that is the reason for his award; it also reflects the good work being done within the Force by all of its members - in the same way that my award reflected the good work done by the Branch Board.

We, and I am sure this is endorsed by all of the members of the Essex Police Federation, heartily congratulate you on the award, Sir. It is an honour richly deserved and earned in the hardest way possible - forever under Public scrutiny, and always account- able directly to the population of Essex County, through the Police Committee.

Long-service and Good

Conduct Medals

Investiture At long last a Presenta- tion of Medals which went some way towards restoring its true value to the Service.

Much of the credit for the excellent arrange- ments must go to Jennie Luscombe who was pitch- ed in at the deep end a few short weeks ago - the remainder goes to the Chief Cons tab le for approving the cxpendi- ture on the truly splendid buffet which was pro- vided for the recipients o f the Award and their treasured guests.

The ceremony itself was the largest ever held

at Force Headquarters, with 55 men of all ranks receiving the medal, each was well-supported by wives, ch i ldren and parents in some cases. T h e m e d a l s w e r e presented by the Lord Lieutenant of the County, Admiral Sir Andrew Lewis, who was ably sup- ported by the Chief Con- stable, and the Deputy - Mr Stone.

1 think that when news gets around about this Investiture, many Inore officers in the future will opt for the presentation, rather than having the medal sent through the post.

FORCE OPEN MEETING 1986

On Monday, June 16, 1986 we held our Annual Force Open Meeting at the Marconi Club. The attendance was surprising considering the number of points which could have counted against it - the World Cup compe- tition, the steaming hot weather, and Clint East- wood on television. We were very content with the numbers who came along, and although there weren't many questions we believe everyone had an enjoyable evening.

We were able to give our congratulations to the Chief on his Birthday Honours Award, and also present him with a bottle of Champagne to cele- brate the occasion. He very kindly shared this with selected members of the to^ table in the VIP

Mr Robert Bunyard CBE, was obviously delighted by the presentation of a bottle of "Bubbly".

tis. He made a witty speech covering t h e various aspects of current problems nationally.

T h i s s p e e c h was particularly appreciated by those on the floor of t he meeting because Peter aimed it at the membership rather than at the Press, which has been a criticism in the past. In the Closed Session,

Ted Davidson, appearing at an Essex Force Open Meeting for the last time, gave a very concise up- date on matters before the Police Negotiating Board at the present time, and made himself available. foi questions from the floor.

After the formalities there was a buffet meal and then an up-and-com- ing young comedian en- tertained those who did

Loungk afterwards. Board over the past present took the point he not have to leave to get " twelve months. The Chief was making. back on duty.

Addresses were given Constable was in spark- This was followed by All in all , a very by Bob Needham, the ling form, talking without Peter Cripps, the Con- pleasant evening. If you Chairman of the Joint a script, but nonetheless stable's Central Commit- missed this year's, make a Branch Board which informative and to the tee Secretary, who was point of coming next covered the work of thc point. I think all those deputising for Leslie Cur- year.

SCARBOROUGH 1986 FOR the first time ever a political party in Great Britain has used the Police Federation National Confer- ence venue to hold its own mini political meeting to inform the mem- bers of the Police Federation that it supports law and order.

The Labour Party spokesman on Home Affairs, Gerald Kauffman, was invited by the Police Federation to their Annual Conference, this year held in Scarborough, as an observer. He readily accepted the invitation then had his own "fringe" meeting arranged for the evening of the main conference's first day. A hall capable of holding about 200 people was booked in the town's main library. Despite a late finish to the main conference it was surprising to find that the "fringe" meeting had a capacity audience.

Mr Kauffman started the "fringe" meeting by telling the audience, 99% being police officers, that despite recent statements made by members of the Labour Party attacking the police and their actions he wished it to be known that Labour leader Neil Kinnock wanted the apparent anti- police approach of certain members of the Labour Party stamped on. "The Labour Party never has been, is not, and never will be against the police in the United Kingdom. Law and order must be maintained by a civil body and that body is obviously the police force" said Mr Kauffman. He continued in the same vein as he answered questions put to him by the audience for the next three hours. At the end of the meeting he said: "I hope we will be able to hold further meetings of the same kind where we are able to discuss items that affect

both the police and the Labour Party, whether or not we are in government. "

I asked Sir Eldon Gr~ffiths, the Conservative MP who is also the Parliamentary advisor to the Police Federation, what he thought of Mr Kauffman's "fringe" meeting. Sir Eldon said: "If Mr Kauffman and the Labour Party want to hold a political

Roger Parker U meeting at the same time and in the same town as the Federation Confer- ence is being held that is fine. There is nothing against that. But if Mr Kauffman is using that meeting in order to tell the attending police officers lies then both he and Mr Kinnock ought to re-think." Sir Eldon Griffiths did not attend the "fringe" meeting.

Sir Eldon backed the call by the Essex contingent for an allowance to be paid for searches carried out in unhygenic conditions, but the confer- ence did not and defeated the motion.

Conference Chairman and Chair- man of the Police Federation, Lesl~e Curtis, told the conference that tighter controls should exist with regard to the purchase, possession. and storage of shotguns. This sup- ported the concern expressed by the the Chief Constable ot tssex. the Essex Police Federation and the Essex Pollce Committee after what appeared to be an abortive attempt

to change the law on the subject. The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, was present during Mr Curtis's speech but made no comment on the subject when he addressed conference. But Mr Hurd did not escape the subject so easily, for at a later press conference he was asked about Leslie Curtis's comments. Mr Hurd said: "We are looking into the matter at' present and if we consider the law dealing with shotguns needs changing then we shall put it before Parlia- ment." When asked if this meant that the law may be changed he said: "I have told you that we are looking into the matter. I have nothing further to add at this stage."

On the final day of the conference the secretary of the Northern Ireland Police Federation received a standing ovation after telling the conference to resist any attempt to turn the police into any form of para-military organisation. He was a guest speaker winding up a spec~ai debate on The Police, Firearms and Society. He told the assembly: "The British Police are respected throughout the world be- cause they do not carry guns during the normal course of their duties,. You must not in any circumstances allow any government or any part of society to change that image."

Time alone will tell whether or not., the image of the British policeman is to change, but one thing is for sure: if the police are to effectively fight the increase in crime they must be given the resources, which includes the money to provide the resources, and manpower. They must also be sup- ported by whichever political party ik.' in power and by Parliament.

8 THE LAW, !!JLY, 1986

Grays win Force Athletics GOOD WEATHER helped the Essex Police Athletics Championships get off to a prompt start at 1.45pm on May 28, at Blackshots Stadium, Grays. Several of the events, the men's shot, Javelin, and high jump took place simultaneously. Some of the more experienced competitors opted out of the early stages of these disciplines, beginning their attempts when the standard had reached their levels. Pc's Evans and Halford of Harlow and HQ respectively started late in the high jump for men, and continued their battle to the end with Evans taking first place with a

finished making the running conditions almost perfect.

Tyrrell (Basildon) took his second win of the day by running the men's 100 metres final in 12.1 seconds. HQ increased their lead over Grays when Turner won the men's 3000 metres steeplechase in 10m 22.8 secs. Husk (Southend) took an easy second victory in the men's hammer with a throw of 45.62 metres. A win in the women's long jump for Owers helped Grays move into the lead overall, in front of HO.

THE Essex Police Sports Association makes a levy on all sports club members of £3 per member per year. This works out at a little under 6p per week. This money is extracted from your sports club subscrip- tion by the Association Treasurer and the balance, which is far in excess of that, is returned to your individual divisional clubs. This money is used by your division to finance the various activities in relation to sport or for whatever purpose your Committees see fit.

The levy taken by the Association, together with any profits from the Force Lottery, is used to finance the Essex Police as a whole in all of its sporting calendar and to assist with the groundsman's salary at Headquarters. More importantly in some re- spects, it helps individual talented sportsmen and sportswomen within the Force to pursue their sometimes 'minority' sport. So far so good.

1 have to say that your Association has no plans to alter o r increase the per capita levy.

Within the Force there are eight main sports clubs each with the right to set their own sports club suhscriptions. Perfectly reasonable and democratic I hear you say. The problem is that amongst the various clubs the subscriptions are not all the same. Some ask for 50p per month, some ask for 75p per month and two clubs a re considering asking f l per month. So far so good.

Readers of Force Orders B will notice that each

month the movements within the Force are quite considerable for whatever reason. Can you see a problem emerging'! The problem is that, within that movement of personel, you have members leaving a 50p division and moving to a 75p division and soon possibly, to a £ l division. The reverse example applies in the same way. To keep on top of this irritating problem is a vexing chore which is very rarely undertaken. Can I say that the computer readout shows members suhscriptions still being taken from their pay for, in some cases, the division they were at two postings ago. Wouldn't it be sensible to have the same sports club subscriptions for everyone?

I think it would. At a recent meeting at Headquarters 1 tried to get this underway. Without any success. To put you in the picture, a compromise of 75p per month for everyone could have been agreed. I had suggested a f l . If for some of you this would have amounted to an increase, 1 can assure you that extra money would have been returned to your clubs to be spent on you. The association would still only have taken their levy as described above.

I have taken the trouble to write on this subject in this issue of our newspaper to make you aware of what the Association is trying to do should you be on a Committee within one of the clubs where the subject may be brought up. O r maybe an interested member who agrees with what we are trying to do.

jump of 1.85 metres. In the men's sh;t Husk of Southend took first place again with 12.50 metres. In the javelin, Tyrrell of Basildon was the clear winner with a throw of 52.60 metres.

Shortly after 2pm the final of the men's 1500 metres was run, with Turner of HQ winning the first of three events for him. This was quickly foHuwed by the finals of both the mens and womens 400 metres, these being won respectively by Phimister (Chelms- ford) in 52.70 secs, and Hewitt (HQ) in 72.00 secs.

By this time a stiff breeze was bringing in some rain which started lightly but quickly developed into a real downpour. However, this didn't seem to dampen anybody's enthusiasm, and Evans (Harlow) took his second victory of the day by winning the long jump with 6.35 metres. Owers (<;rays), and Partridge (HQ) won the women's shot and javelin respectively.

HQ were by this time building a good lead. A guest from the City of London Police in the shape of WPc Gerard, was obviously an athlete of some standing as she comfortably won the women's 100, 200 and 800 metres finals. By now the heavy rain had all but

.. K - M. Dunion (Chelmsford) has been in the media

lately for his fund raising charity walking, and he got another mention today when he won the 3000 metres walk in 13m 24.9 secs. Erysthee (guest from the Met), the current 200 metres PAA Champion, won this event by a huge margin, showing what a class runner he is. His style of running was a real pleasure to watch.

Some light rain was again beginning to fall when Turner (HQ) had a comfortable win in the men's 5000 metres, bringing HQ close behind Grays in the overall stakes. May (City) won the men's 800 metres final, and as the guests didn't score any points, Grays division remained the overall winners, with HQ a close second (helped by a large contingent from the FSU).

The general feelings seemed to be that the facilities were first class and that the whole event was run as smoothly as possible, considering the occasionally inclement weather, and the fact that many of the competitors were entered in several events. A good days athletics. Golfing diary ,

PAA SHOOTING I BY THE time you read this we would have completed half our fixtures and I am pleased to say our run of success is continuing and at the time of writing we have only suffered two defeats and amassed four wins and three draws.

Thursday 22 May) and two of our members braved the snow, hail, rain and wind, to take part. The i r ordeal I unders tand started at Euston Station. Both arrived there to find that the boat train via Stranraer wasn't run- ning and they had to be re-routed through Wales and the Irish Republic before eventually end- ing up in Belfast, however, that is another story which no doubt by now Colin Muir has related.

Anyway, back to the golf, 1 a m

we have 78 members, throughout the County, and places in National and Regional Compe- titions a re hecoming harder for players to earn which in turn is producing better and better gol- fers. Our standards are impro- ving as our match results show and interest in the sport is still increasing and of course new members are always welcome. Try us!!

Good golfing. I

EARLIER this year the PAA Shortrange Rifle and Pistol Championships were hosted by Devon and Cornwall Constabul- ary at Torquay. Essex were well represented with Rob Wolton, Col- chester and Graham Har- vey, Sou thend , both having won through the preliminary rounds to rep- resent the Eastern Region in t h e i n d i v i d u a l Championships. It is not often Essex are repre- sented in the rifle event and Rob's success with the 'long' gun was well- d e s e r v e d a n d m o s t welcome.

G r a h a m H a r v e y , having competed with pis- tol at National and Inter-

has been successful twice in past years and was Regional runner up on this occassion. Unfortu- nately Rob had a dis- appointing shoot, compe- tition nerves at this level, dropped him the vital points necessary for a placing. The individual rifle title was won by Paul Hatton, Lancashire with the excellent score of 298 ex 300.

Graham Harvey follow- ing his success in the PAA Championships shot as a trialist for a place in the England team for the forthcoming Common- wealth Games. Shooting .22 rapid fire pistol he finished joint-second with

a score of 582. This forced a shoot off with British National Squad member Brian Girling.

Three strings of five shots in 4 seconds, each shot on a separate target ended with a very close result and Graham was defeated into third place and became travelling re- serve - a position held for the 1982 Australian Commonwealth Games!

Scores were as follows: G . Harvey 48 49 48 - 145. B. Girling 49 47 50 - 146.

It is good to see first place was achieved by another Police Officer - Terry Turner of Cam- bridge.

Our campaign in the No 5 Regional P.A.A. event which was held on 20 May on Hayling Island, didn't result in us hring- ing back any trophies hut we certainly held our own and our representatives were a credit to the Force. Individually, all eight participants, except two, finished in the top half of a field of 68 competitors and in particular in the morning round Steve Bard- well (Harlow) recorded a nett score of 74 to finish joint 12, closely followed by Fred Faulk-

proud to say that 'in these championships Keith Davies (Chelmsford) recorded a first for Essex in that he reached the top 24 to qualify for the final day championships play off. He en- ded up 21st overall, a very creditable performance and he

Angling Lines

O N T H E 6th May, 1986 nine shows for the future. members of the southend Police Well done Keith! I Cluh Fishing Team held their

ner (Rayleigh) who returned a nett score of 75. In the afternoon round Steve Bardwell headed the Essex Scores with 32 Stapleford Points and 13th place. We en- tered two teams of four in the same event and out of the 17 teams entered both ours came joint eighth.

. - - - . - - . . -. . . . . .

On Wednesday 28 May we entertained Norfolk Police at Cannons Brook Golf Club in the first round of the National Police Team knock-Out Cup. This is our first venture into this compe- tition and I am pleased to say we won handsomely 4 games to 1. This now takes us into the Area

spring competition at Brighton. O n the day nine 9lh specimen spurdogs were caught and a sclcction of smaller spurdogs and whiting. . ~ I hc results were as follows - Ilave Clnrk 671b; Graham Garn- ham 541b; Pctcr Garnham 421b; Mick Bannister 531h 4ozs; Alan Husk 451b lozs; Robert Ross (telephonist) 401b; Tony Chaplin 38lb: Bob Rowlev 531b: a total

national level has in pre- vious years succeeded in reaching the Champion- ships but never before achieved the coveted title 'PAA Shooting Pistol Champion.' At last his name is engraved upon the champions cup. With a score of 285 ex 300 he was 6 points ahead of the n e a r e s t r i v a l , M a c Nicholls of West Mid- lands, who has dominated this event for the last three years. Graham's name joins that of Phil Webb, Colchester who

LADIES' HOCKEY Over the same period of time Finals.

the National P.A.A. Champion- Well, I can only say that maior WELL, THE SEASON is over, with a final fling at organising the ever-improving team. Unfortunately, the had weather at the beginning of the year brought a temporary end to the season (for two months!) but a couple of hurried games were fixed for April.

The first was a triangular tournament scheduled against Suffolk and Cambridge forces, but a "crimewave" in Suffolk took their team, depleted Essex and Cambridge and nearly doomed the evening hefore it started. However, Witham ladies stepped in, Essex and Cambridge joined forces and a match was played. Witham managed a 4-2 win over "Camsex" (who incidentally fielded 12 unnoticed by the opposition!) and proved to be an enjoyable evening.

The last game, against Essex University, was played on their new "astroturf' surface. The game proved hard and fast with goals being scored by both teams. University were the first to score, early in the game whilst the police tried to work out what the surface would do. Shortly before half-time, the police pulled one back with a combined effort by Sue Woods, Chris Adams, Marian Tankerd, Pat Eilis, Tracy Martinez and Yvonne Taylor. I can't say who actually scored the goal since they all claimed it, and 1 am too short sighted to be certain! The second gual for University was the result of mistake by the defence who gave the ball to the waiting forward line, who could not miss having left the 'keeper stranded.

The second-half was almost goal-less with University having the advantage of playing regularly on the surface, but who could not find the back of the net due to good defence work. Essex Police had their chances as well, and were unlucky not to equalise.

As the final whistle blew, the ball was dribbled into the Essex goal, hut one wonders if it counts. We claim a 2-1 tlcf'rat, a good result under the circumstances.

I,astly, our thanks must go to the stalwarts of the team Sue Woods, Chris Adams, Tracey Martinez. Yvonne 'l'aylor, Marion Tankard, Kay Potter, Pat Ellis, Lou Hntton and Chris Gillingham, who have played throughout the season supported by Nicky Pocock, lkbbie Bilner, Jane Hutton, Julie Baker, Nadine Harrington and Angela Nuakes.

Well "team", clean your hoots and get ready for the new season 1986-87. hv JEAN SEAGER

ships were being held in ~ n r t h - golfing successes are on ihe ern Ireland. This event was over horizon as our society grows several days (Monday, 19 May to stronger and stronger. This year

amount ol' 4451b Sozs. '

All in all an excellent day's fishing.

Essex retain title THE ESSEX team looked thin and depleted as they set out to retain the PAA SE Regional Athletics champions' title. Most notable absences were in the middle distance events where there were no participants representing the force.

As the aftei-noon progressed the Essex rcpresentativcs were achieving good re- sults and the overall team positions had Essex and Thames Valley running neck- to-neck.

Steve Tyrell from Basildon had an excellent win in the javelin with 54.84 metres in the first cvent.

the high jump. Other winners were Dennis Shepard of Grays who won the 3,000 metres walk. Alan Husk was 2nd in both shot and discus, events for which he held the title. Elaine Partridge came 2nd in the ladies' javelin and 3rd in the high - jump.

The star performance of the afternoon must go t o - ~ e i l Phimistcr. Having come 2nd in the 400 metres, he took the anchor Icg in the relay. Scvcn teams were in the race and he took over in 6th position to complete the last 400 metres. As he rounded the track he overtook the othcr runners onc by one until at the home straight, the crowd rose to Neil's efforts as he passed the finishing line just ahead of the Thames Valley anchor runner. A truly fine performance, which in the last event brought the meeting to an exciting close and saw Essex retain the City of London Challenge Trophy for the 10th consecutive time.

FOOTBALL Anyone who wished to play Forcc Football next season should contact HQ extension 203, Ch Ins Clark, Pc Wood or Pc Weatherley. Details of training will appear later.

The Force second team will require a linesmen for next season. If you are interested, contact HQ ext 203 as soon as possible.

From this point on it was our ladies and the men's field cvcnts that pulled us through.

Glynn Evans of Iiarlow was in fine form winning both tnen's long jump and

&high jump. Moira Owers had a good afternoon with a win in the ladies' long jump; 4th in the 100 metres and a 6th in